Down Home Wright - Taliesin

Every Frank Lloyd Wright space I've seen prior to this one has been built for someone else: private commissions like Fallingwater and the Kentuck Knob home in Pennsylvania, or public spaces such as the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California. They we're designed and built to please others. Taliesin is all about Wright himself: it was built for and by him and his family as an escape from Wisconsin winters.

Every inch of the site reflects FLW, from the height and narrowness of his doorways and low ceilings (some of which were modified after his death to accommodate those taller than Wright’s 5’8”) to the use of cheap, plentiful building materials: local rock, sand, cement, canvas, and plywood.

Wright is often cited as the father of site-specific architecture; Tallesin is a fine example of that, and also very telling about the man. The impression is of a powerful personality, highly egotistical and self-referential, more interested in form than function. By Wright's own admission, he banged his knees more on his own furniture than anything else. The rooms are showcases for interesting, if somewhat awkward, furniture and seating arrangement angles. Views took precedence over comfort, as did the way the piece looked rather than felt.

Wright admired and used plentiful, available materials, evidenced by his appreciation of simple rocks, turned red by centuries underground or sun-blasted black for an equal amount of time. Apprentices - his students -  labored beside him to hoist boulders into cement and sand forms to create dramatic walls while all, including Wright and his long-suffering wife - lived in tents among the scorpions and sagebrush.

 


All the Wright-designed properties I've visited have significant structural flaws (often water-induced leaks), as does Taliesin. The relentless Arizona sun and dust have combined to weather the property, rendering it a bit shabbier than expected, though Wright's placement of viewing sites and water features remains flawless. His sound design in the small cabaret is nothing short of brilliant.

The school of architecture, which still exists today, was Wright's wife's idea - an income source that utilized the site and gave opportunity to the eager young students who saw the value in Wright's idea of creating human habitations as art that enhanced and blended in with the nature around it.

Don't expect a polished property - this is a desert dwelling in every sense of the word, as eccentric and unique as Wright himself. 

Taliesin
12621 N. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.
(if using GPS, the address is 12345 N. Taliesin Dr.)
Scottsdale, AZ 85259

http://franklloydwright.org/taliesin-west/

Not for Sissies! Feeling your Way Around the Tactile Dome at the Exploratorium

First, let's assume you are not claustrophobic. Or THINK you're not. AND, let's assume you left your fear of the dark back in your childhood bedroom along with that scary, hairy thing under the bed--if so, the Tactile Dome in San Francisco's Exploratorium is for you!
A recent trip on a rainy day gave me an opportunity to check out differences between the exhibits in the Exploratorium's expanded space on Pier 15 and its old home near the Marina. The space expansion has permitted the addition of quite a few more of the interactive exhibits the Ex is known for. Often designed by artists, the exhibits illustrate various scientific principles; in total, a really clever way to introduce your little one or yourself to science--and there are dozens of principles to see in action, from earthquake prediction to the visual breakdown of light. These exhibits are beautifully designed, and can withstand the rigors of hundreds of tiny hands every day (mostly--there's always one unsupervised kid who can't keep from bashing something and causing it to implode).

On the hour, a gigantic mechanical clock unfolds itself in the center of the exhibit space and announces the time. Nearby, special exhibits delight visitors; when I was there, mechanical toys of all types were hard at work moving, clanking and charming one and all. The exhibit space also showed the principles behind the toys--gears, levers and other mechanisms that created movement--all in touchable, teachable exhibits that illustrated how it was done.
Some of my favorite exhibits had to do with light, vision, sound and hearing in the central gallery. Inside one exhibit, life-size shadows were projected on a screen the size of a semi truck; the movements were interpreted in flowing rainbow colors: beautiful!

Speaking of light (or lack thereof), I left the "thing" under the bed years ago, but I was surprised to find that I was a tad more claustrophobic than I thought. I moved pretty slowly through the dome (it really is blacker than midnight in a coffin in there), feeling my way along, discovering where the handholds led up or down, where a slide was, or a net to walk on; however, there were folks who zipped right through it, and did it more than once! I wasn't worried, however, because while inside the dome's tight spaces, visitors are actually being monitored by the front desk--one yelp for help (and it has happened, they tell me), and you're whisked out of there in minutes. It was really quite an experience.
One of the best times during the day to be there is lunchtime, when all the families head for the food service area--the big clock will strike 12 times!